Little Mar'i
by kamefootninja
Summary: A collection of little stories revolving around Starfire and Dick Grayson's daughter, Mar'i, as a child growing up with so many super auntie's and uncle's.


Joey was used to getting dressed in the bathroom after a shower, with little Mar'i running around none of them risked her seeing something she shouldn't see at her age. So it was quite common to see all the boys walking through the corridors in just their bottoms, especially Joey who took the time during the walk to town dry the blond curls he was trying to grow longer.

Which is why he didn't think twice when he saw the long black trail of hair darting into his room as he tried to close the door. He just smiled and waved hello while he finished towel drying the worst of his wet hair.

"Uncle JoJo, can you help me paint a picture for Uncle Zoos birthday?" She'd started using the nickname for Beastboy a few years ago, and since Gar liked it, it just sort of stuck.

The seemingly endless energy that Mar'i gave off always warmed Joey's smile, the girl couldn't even sit still on the bed, she was bouncing up and down like someone had filled her up with sugar, excited to work on her present. A quick look out the window confirmed that it was just gone noon, which meant the solar based Tameranians would be fully charged up from the sun.

_Of course I will_

He gave her a kiss on the top of her head as he headed over to the dressing table to throw the towel in the laundry basket and grab a hair brush, before joining her on the bed.

_What did you want to paint? _

Joey was surprised she was asking for his help, lately she'd been doing things herself and then showing them off to him to get his approval. She was growing up so fast these days, before long she'd be starting school, but she still had her childlike innocence and sense of wonder. He hoped she'd never lost that bright eyed wonder.

"I wanted to paint a dinosaur since that my favorite animal he does!" She announced proudly, having obviously thought it through ahead of time. "But maybe a pink one, even if he can't make himself pink. Maybe if I put pink dye in his shampoo like uncle Cyborg did that once!"

Joey shook his head and gave her the stern look that told her it was a bad idea. Luckily after an over dramatic sigh she seemed it get distracted again. She reached out for him, and he laughed, tucking his hair behind his ears so she could reach his sideburns which he assumed she was going for. For some reason she always seemed fascinated with his hair since he started growing his sideburns.

But to his surprise her hands fell back away, and she suddenly looked concerned. "Uncle JoJo, you're hurt!?"

She must have seen the confusion in his face as he felt his chin for any sign that he'd cut himself shaving or something, because she shook her head. "Not your face. Your neck!"

Joey suddenly froze, a cold wave washed over him at the thought of his scar somehow opening up after all these years. But as soon as his fingers touched the clean scar tissue it hit him. He'd just gotten out the shower, he wasn't wearing a turtleneck or a scarf like usual. He'd always kept the scar covered up, she hadn't seen it before.

With a shaky sigh he pulled himself back together form his little scare, giving a weak but reassuring smile while patting the bed next to him for her to get closer. He was fine, nothing was wrong, he couldn't let her see how shaken he was at the thought of it opening up again.

_I'm ok. It's a scar, old cut, not new_

Mar'i took a few seconds to translate the signs before frowning up at her uncle who seemed quietly sad about her bringing it up. " it's so big? Does it Hurt?"

Taking a deep breath Joey reminded himself that she didn't know better not to talk about it, so he gently took her hand and placed it against his throat so she could feel that the skin wasn't broken.

_No. I forget it's there_

That was only half true. He tried his best to forget about it, but he was very aware of it, especially when he had nightmares or got so stressed that he over thought everything he'd been through over the years.

The small fingers explored the deep scar carefully, keeping her touch light incase she hurt her uncle. She was so interested by this new discovery, wondering why she'd never seen it before and how a scar could be that big. She was so drawn in that Joey couldn't help himself. He made a sound as if he was rolling an R in a word, making his throat rumble with the strained gravelly sound that she'd heard him make many times before.

The feeling of the vibrations made her pull her hand back quickly, before giggling and being pulled into a playful hug, which quickly turned into a tickle attack. It ended up with her laying on his chest and smiling as she looked down and messed with mess of blond curls spread around her uncles face.

After a few moments she looked up at him with a curious but hesitant question in her soft green eyes, waiting for him to raise a questioning eyebrow to silently ask what she wanted.

"That's why you can't talk isn't it?"

Joey sighed, sitting back up and rubbing at his throat, but he couldn't feel sorry for himself right now, Mar'i didn't understand how hard it was for him to talk about. She was just a curious child, who was bright enough to put the pieces together and realise that she'd never asked why her uncle couldn't talk, she'd just accepted that that's how he was.

_Yes. But it was a long time ago, I'm fine now. I don't need to talk talk outloud_

She seemed it think about it for awhile, taking her time to process what she'd learned and how it fit into what she knew about the world. "I like you how you are. You talk with your music. Which sounds prettier than speaking anyway!"

Joey couldn't help the well of emotion that washed over him at those words. Mar'i had a way of cutting through all the crap and finding the best in every situation. She didn't care about what caused his scar like an adult would, she just accepted that it was him. And saying that his music was better than words hit closer to home than he was expecting. His music was his way of coping, to create art and express emotions, it was personal to him. The fact that she didn't wish he could talk meant a lot to him.

He didn't notice that his eyes has started to water, not until his niece was rubbing his eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry! I said something bad didn't I? I.i didn't mean to upset you JoJo! I'm sorry"

Blinking to clear his eyes Joey shook his head quickly, his face breaking out into a wide grin. He wasn't upset, if anything it felt like she'd lifted a weight form his chest that he hadn't realised was there. As he stood up, he lifted her into his arms to spin her around, filling the room with happy squealing and giggling as they danced around the room together until they heard Garfield calling that lunch was ready.

When they came to a stop Joey kissed her cheek and set her down on the floor, laughing as he watched her stumble a little on her feet while giggling to herself. With a gentle pat on the back he gestured for her to run along to dinner, he'd need to at least put a shirt on first anyway.

But Mar'i only got halfway to the door before turning back. "Love you JoJo." Her hands automatically came up to sign it as she spoke, watching him mimic the motion back. When she ran back towards him after a moment, he opened his arms for another quick hug, but that wasn't all she wanted.

Kissing her fingers, she pressed them to his throat with a smile. "I know it's old, but now I've kissed it better, so it can't make you sad anymore." She proudly announced, which made him shake his head and kiss her cheek again, pushing her towards the door which she ran out of as Beast Boy called once again for people to get food before it was gone.

His hand lingered over the scar for a moment. He knew that it would never stop bothering him to think about, the scars were more than skin deep. But for now, if that little girl didn't mind, then for once neither did he. And for the first time since he could remember, Joey decided not to wear a turtleneck or scarf outside of his bedroom, he didn't have to hide from the people he loved. It just took a little nudge for him to remember that the people who loved him didn't care about his flaws and scars.


End file.
